~FOUR~

  Lena wakes to the cool touch of something cold moving around her forehead and cheeks. She opens her eyes and stares up into a pair of cat-shaped blue diamonds. That is the only way she can describe the eyes of Lucas Obelisk. She enjoys them more when he smiles. These times they would shimmer with a brilliance that outmatched any jewel. Right now, they look dim and worried. His tanned skin is flushed, and his black hair is tousled and uncombed. What is Elderon’s apprentice doing in my tower? she thought.

  Lena sits up quickly, causing the room to spin around her.

  “Easy now,” Lucas says, tucking a heavy lock of her hair behind her ear. “You’ve been out for a few minutes. How do you feel?”

  His soft voice flows over her and tickles her senses, as it usually does. She had developed the biggest crush on Lucas since the night she first came to Starlight City, but most days he avoided her like she was an affliction. She should be thrilled to see him, but it is too strange to have him in her room so suddenly.

  For the past few months, Lucas has been spending most of his mornings with Elderon at the northern city boundaries. Elderon is building new foundation and expanding the city borders for the fifth time since she came to Starlight. This means he intends to create new puppets and maybe even a few new mages would be coming out of Sekalon Forest. They haven’t gotten a new mage in Starlight for decades.

  “What are you doing here?” she asks, putting her hand to her forehead as a headache blooms to life. Her puppet skin has endured some damage from a hit to her head, but it is already healing rapidly.

  He points outside the window behind her. “After the wave came through, I saw that the sun was still stuck on the horizon. I figured you had to be out of it, so I came by to check on you.”

  Lena quickly gets up and stumbles to the window. Lucas moves along with her, at her right, and grabs her elbow to keep her steady. She ignores the feelings his touch arouses and focuses on what she is seeing. Outside, a crowd has gathered on each side of the huge city square. Most of them are living puppets, but a few mages and city masters mill among them. They murmur and talk excitedly amongst each other. Some point up the street while some point down the street.

  “What are they waiting for?” she asks, frowning. “It can’t all be because the sunrise has stopped,” she says and looks to the horizon. The day is stuck at dawn, but with a thought and a wave of her hand, the sun begins its assent once more.

  “Give it a few minutes,” Lucas says. “You’ll see.”

  Lena stares down into the square for what seems like an eternity and then it starts. A light blazes into life at the right side of the square and a portal forms. The sound of a bell fills the air and then the first thing that comes into view are the handles of some type of cart. Then a man emerges, pulling an empty rickshaw through.

  His stride is even and his pace mid-tempo. The sound of his bell rings out every few seconds, and the wheels of his rickety old rickshaw rattle along the street. His face is old and worn. His eyes so downcast you cannot see their color. He seems tired beyond words, yet the bell still rings out, and the old wheels of his rickshaw maintained their steady rhythm.

  The murmur in the crowd grows louder, and others at the back push their way to the front of the line to behold the spectacle. Lena is transfixed by the sight. The sound of the wheels and bell stir something in her mind, and now she can barely think straight. They didn’t have rickshaws here in Starlight. The street carriages are spelled and operated on their own, picking up and dropping off their passengers throughout the day. Only the red carriages move in the dead of night, and horse driven carriages usually signal the arrival of a city master.

  “It started right after the wave came through,” Lucas says from beside her. Lena barely hears a word he says; her headache that had begun to ease is now roaring back to life with a vengeance.

  “He appeared out of nowhere with his rickshaw. He runs the length of the square and then disappears out another portal. It’s been happening over and over ever since the wave passed through.” Lena remains silent, and Lucas finally takes a good look at her. She is wide-eyed and slack-mouthed beside him.

  “Are you alright?”

  Still more silence.

  Lucas puts his hand on her shoulder and shakes her gently. She finally looks at him with her dark green eyes blinking rapidly. “I think I know him,” she declares.

  “The rickshaw man?” he asks, eyebrows rising in surprise.

  “Yes,” Lena answers. She suddenly doubles over with her head in her hands. Lucas quickly guides her away from the window to sit in a chair by her small night table.

  “Stay calm,” he says. “It’ll pass soon.”

  Lena takes in deep breaths and closes her eyes. The vision of the man is ever-present before her even though he isn’t within sight. It touches her somewhere deep in her soul. The sound of the cart and bell still flow through her window, and it inspires a sense of belonging she can’t understand.

  “I don’t understand what’s happening,” Lena says. She places a hand to her chest as she tries to calm a phantom heart.

  “Elderon is pretty upset,” Lucas says. “Somehow this spirit has managed to tear a hole in his city, and he hasn’t been able to figure out a way to stop his trekking through the street.”

  “He’s tried already?” Lena asks.

  “Three attempts so far. He’s tried to blast him with eternal fire, which should burn anything. It went through him and to the crowd. He’s tried opening a portal into the void, in the middle of his path, but he just comes out on the other side of it and continues on down the street. He’s even tried opening the foundation below him, but our spirit would not fall into the void. Elderon is pretty angry. I had to calm him down a bit before I came here to check on you.”

  “What type of spirit is he?” Lena murmurs, mostly to herself. “Do you think he could have been wandering somewhere close by when the wave came through, opening a portal into Starlight?”

  Lucas rubs his chin and walks back to lean against the window as he considers Lena’s musings. Aside from Elderon, he is the only other mage in the city that can create a transport portal. He is also the main builder in the city. Every city master’s tower was created with his magic.

  “That would almost seem plausible except for one thing.” His pause stretches on too long for Lena’s liking; she lifts her eyebrows in question.

  “Well?”

  “A portal created by the wave should only open once and then close permanently. Leaving the old man stuck here in Starlight. These portals appear every few minutes as if on a loop of some sort. He doesn’t seem to be the one controlling them. Maybe the wave created some sort of glitch in the fabric of this place. Even the old man is strange. He didn’t utter a sound or even blink each time Elderon threw something at him. It’s like he isn’t aware of anything else around him.”

  Lena springs up with a look of clarity on her face. “He’s a projection,” she says.

  Lucas’s forehead creases into a deep frown. “Not possible!” he says.

  “Think about it, Lucas. Remember that time you and Renpho got into a fight when he played out your dreams by the crystals in the city square?”

  “How could I forget? It was embarrassing to say the least.”

  “Right,” Lena snaps her fingers. “It was like watching it all happen in front of your very eyes, but the apparitions had less awareness than a puff of smoke. They were just projections of your dreams from the dream lord’s memory, powered by Elderon’s crystals.”

  “So you’re saying the wave caused someone to project their dreams?”

  “It’s possible,” Lena declares with excitement. “It would have to be a spirit, as living puppets do not dream.”

  “And you think this spirit is still asleep in Starlight even after all of this commotion?” he asks, giving her a look.

  Lena rolls her eyes. “Alright, I get it, it’s probably a waste of time, but at least it’s a start. I have a need to know who he is, Lucas.”

  Lucas sighs. “Okay, I guess it won’t harm to try a new approach. Where should we begin?”

  Lena smiles. “I know just the person who would know if it is indeed a projection, and how to find him.”

  “Renpho!” they both say in unison.

  ~FIVE~

  Lena can hardly believe that Lucas is walking beside her to the dream master’s tower. Even though he is far from happy to have to seek out his nemesis for answers, he still came with her.

  Renpho is notorious for pushing Elderon’s and Lucas’s buttons. More than once, he had been on Elderon’s naughty list for testing the dome’s limits and attempting to create dreamscapes into unknown worlds. These bursts of magic disrupted Starlight’s foundation, and Elderon had to swoop in to set it right again.

  Aside from lacking a healthy fear of his supreme mage, Renpho is fun and daring. He welcomed Lena to Starlight City with a smile and a bouquet of starry flowers, unlike Lucas, who had seemed stiff and dour.

  Lucas has been avoiding her since she first arrived, and she is beginning to think that perhaps it is the lure of the unattainable that further draws her to him when he has given her no encouragement whatsoever. This is the most they had ever spoken, despite her various attempts to get in his way. Maybe today she would finally ask him why he avoids her.

  After the wave passed through, he and Elderon had come over from Crystal Isle, crossing the Sapphire Bridge into the city. The only structure on Crystal Isle is Elderon’s sprawling fortress and orchids of the powerful crystals he is known to bring forth from the ether. They vary in color and dot the landscape on Crystal Isle. Some grow as tall as his fortress, while others barely leave the ground. The Islet is off limits to everyone besides Lucas and a few guards, on penalty of banishment to the void. Elderon says that his fortress holds the very foundations of Starlight City in place and this is the reason for such a law.

  Lena tilts her head slightly to the side and sneaks another look at Lucas’s stoic face. He stands a little over six feet tall and towers over her five-foot-two frame. Still, he manages to keep his long stride at pace with hers.

  “Soooo,” she drawls out. “Putting an end to our visitor’s parade must be pretty important to Elderon, huh? I mean, this is the closest you have ever let me come near you,” she says, a self-conscious chuckle following behind.

  Lucas looks down at her with a raised brow and a smile in his eyes. Lena quickly raises her hands up in defense. “Not that I was trying to get closer to you. I’m not infatuated with you or anything like that. It’s just...well...It’s just...” Lena can’t finish her words. The question she wants to ask gets stuck in her throat. A wave of heat rises up her neck, and it isn’t from the affects of her mid-morning sun. Elderon did a pretty good job on these skins that housed them. They were designed to respond to the spirits of their owner and embody all of the living traits they had before. Now she finds that her thoughts are a jumbled mess, and she is blushing profusely.

  Lucas suddenly appears in front of her, causing her to collide into his chest. He puts his hands on her shoulders to steady her, and she looks up at him in question. The look in his eyes is one of longing and regret. Her eyes widen in response.

  “I see you, Lena,” he says. “Inside and out...But Elderon has forbidden me from pursuing anything with you. And besides, you deserve someone better than me.”

  With that said, Lucas resumes his pace at her side, leaving her with more questions than answers. Lena remains quiet, glancing up at him from time to time, as she thinks on his words.

  Alleyways and corridors are clean and pristine in Starlight. Shimmering stones were strategically placed to add a majestic touch in buildings and stoned pathways throughout the city. In the center of the square, where the rickshaw man begins yet another run, towers three pure white power crystals.

  Lena counts the seconds between the clang of his bell, until it stops when he has completed his run and exits through the portal. She thinks on that sound, and the aching familiarity it stirs pushes aside her thoughts of Lucas for a few minutes. The old man looks so sad and worn. His face says that all hope is lost. If she is right about her theory, this dreamer is surely in a state of misery.

  ~SIX~

  Lena’s fist is inches away from banging on the door of Renpho’s tower, when it abruptly swings open. A scantily dressed redhead moves forward and leans against the frame of the door.

  “Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” she says, eyeing Lucas from head to toe. “Too bad you also have a sore beside you!”

  “It’s nice to see you too, Dela,” Lena says through clenched teeth. The woman has a skill for making her angry with hardly any effort at all.

  “We’re here to see Renpho,” Lucas states. “Can you please tell him we’re here?”

  “Well, anything for you, beautiful,” she says, blowing him a kiss.

  Lena wants to yank her from the doorway by her pouty pink lips, but it would only anger Renpho if she beat up his girl. Instead, her fist remains clenched at her side, and Dela sashays around and closes the door in their faces. Ten seconds later, it opens again to reveal the male version of a Nubian Queen. He has dark chocolate skin and pitch-black, star-dotted eyes.

  “To what do I owe the pleasure?” his deep voice rumbles.

  “Cut it out, Dela,” Lucas responds. He is fast losing his patience.

  Lena’s eyes widen at his rebuke, and she leans slightly forward to take a closer look at the man before her but sees nothing that would give away that he isn’t who he seems to be. Lucas is truly exceptional to see through such a disguise. How could she forget that Dela Nightingale is a master of free-form magic? She sometimes wonders if anyone has ever seen her true form.

  The man sighs and disappears in a flash of light, leaving behind the sultry redhead once more. “It was worth a shot to see what has Elderon’s apprentice at this door of all places, on such an... interesting day,” she says. Her mouth curves and the smile that forms is somehow flirtatious and wicked at the same time. “Well, I’ll be on my way. Do let me know if the sky is falling.”

  Lucas and Lena part to let Dela pass between them and into the street. She throws one more kiss at Lucas. Lena has had enough, but the deep voice at the door stops her plan to send Dela off with a blast of magic. She is grateful. The fallout may have been rather embarrassing. After all, she has no claim on Lucas to fight for.

  “I thought I’d see you here, Lena,” Renpho says. He moves aside to let them enter his tower. “But you, Lucas, I must say, this is quite a surprise.”

  Lucas glares at Renpho over Lena’s head. The embarrassment Renpho had dealt him a year ago is far from forgotten. His deepest wish had been put on display as a spectacle for the crowd’s entertainment. The dream had been a replay of an intimate scene. In it, he was kissing a girl by the glass fountain in the city square. Thankfully, he came just in time to stop him before her identity was revealed. Lucas is still working on a plan to pay him back for what he did. The dream lord is no fool; the grin on his face says he knows something is coming.

  “Oh come on, Lucas, it’s not like I invaded your privacy; those dreams practically danced straight to me. I just thought I’d help you out and send them where a certain someone likes to hang out during the day.” His grin broadens, and Lena can almost feel the heat of Lucas’s glare on the back of her neck.

  She stands between them as they linger at the tower’s entrance. A knot of confusion forms in her forehead.

  “Wait, how did you know I would come? What does any of this even have to do with me?”

  Renpho ignores Lena’s questions. Instead, he turns away and walks over to pour himself a drink from a pitcher on a shelf above a roaring fireplace. “You may want to take a seat,” he says. He gestures to cushioned chairs on the right side of the fireplace. The room is dimly lit, as the lone window on the ground floor of the tower is closed. After Lucas finally steps in behind Lena and closes the door, only the light from the fire illuminates the room.

  Renpho moves around the room, lighting three lanterns with a snap of his fingers. Lena now sees that the room is painted a deep green, and the walls are full of portraits of landscapes and galaxies. In the far right corner, is the landing of the stairway that leads up to the upper sections of the tower. Beside the stairway is an ivory colored bookshelf, which curves a quarter of the room behind the cushioned chairs. The other side of the room has another long ivory cushioned chair with a small table beside it. To the left of the table is the entrance to the kitchen.

  “You could join me for lunch if you wish,” Renpho says. He shifts to lean beside the fireplace. Lena scowls; eating is something the living puppets have to do. Among the city masters, only Renpho and the wind master still like to engage in the act. The food here is more magic than anything else.

  “No,” Lucas quickly replies. “Just tell us what you know about the rickshaw man.”

  Renpho smiles slightly and takes a sip of a tangy red wine from his cup. “Straight to the point, I see,” he mutters. He walks over and stretches out his lanky frame in the chair opposite them. “So, you wouldn’t have come here if you hadn’t figured out what I already have.”

  “Hah!” Lena bursts out. “I knew I was right. I should have wagered with you, Lucas,” she says with a mischievous grin. Lucas’s thoughts are very much elsewhere by the scowl on his face and wrinkles deep in his forehead.

 

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